Madeleina Kay

Madeleina Kay

Nicholas Shields (Italy)

Nicholas Shields moved to Italy in February 2018. He lives with his current household (in order of importance): Wife, dog, and brother-in-law

Interview:

1) How did you feel on 24th June when you heard about the UK’s vote to leave the EU?

At the time I was in the Quotient’s clinical research unit in Ruddington, just outside Nottingham. The staff there were reluctant to let me stay up all night watching the referendum results come in on the TV but, by just after one o’clock in the morning I could see which way it was going, so I went to my bed. In the morning I hoped I had been wrong and turned on the nearest TV to receive the terrible news. It made me feel physically ill, sick to the stomach and gave me a sense of dread which shook me to my core.

2) What were the key driving factors that made you decide to leave the UK?

I first met my wife in Amsterdam in 1981 and after a brief fling lasting a few months, we parted and lost touch. Thirty-five years later we were reunited through Facebook and a year later I flew out to Italy, for the first time in thirty-six years. We married in May last year, 2019. Her third, my first.

I moved to Italy principally to spend time with my soon-to-be wife, but I quickly recalled how much I loved this country from the first time I visited in 1981. Of course, the situation in the UK regarding Brexit was also a deciding factor. So, there I was, I had found my long lost love, hated what was happening in the UK and loved Italy, there was really only one course of action: Tie loose ends at home, move to Italy and get married.

3) How/why did you choose your current country of residence?

I did not so much choose Italy, as Italy chose me.

I came to visit my future wife here in 1981, although, after a few months, neither of us knew then that we would ever see one another again. It was through Facebook that we were reunited. My wife had, not only changed her first name, but had kept her married name, so my occasional attempts through the years to find her came to nought. It was her who eventually found me, and we started chatting regularly. Both my parents had died in the preceding three years and her mum was dying too. I was able to support her in a small way during her most difficult times.

Against this background there was a certain inevitability, albeit with a very slight probability, that this outcome would somehow, some day come to pass.

4) Do you have citizenship for your current country? Do you still have EU citizenship? If no, are you hoping to obtain it?

I do not currently have Italian citizenship but I have taken the first steps towards obtaining it.

I am officially a resident here; I have a Carta d’identità and a Tessera Sanitaria (health card). In my case and without going into too much detail, they were exceedingly difficult to obtain and the efforts to obtain these documents delayed our wedding by a year. Suffice to say that, without official residency I could not obtain the identity card and without that I could not obtain the health card, or a bank account and neither could I marry. For a while it seemed impossible until one day, we went to see the Mayor at the local commune. That was a good decision as she sorted things out quickly and it was the same mayor who eventually married us.

For the past two years I have attended Italian language classes and have progressed from A0 – not even a beginner, to B1 – Intermediate. Progress through the language milestones looks like this:

Beginner >> A1-A2, B1-B2, C1-C2 >> Advanced.

A minimum of B1 is required for Italian citizenship and I intend to attend school for as long as possible (It only costs 30 Euro/year!) and attain at least C1, not only to obtain citizenship but to have a social and working life here. thanks to Matteo Salvini, the process for obtaining citizenship has become longer, more convoluted, and more expensive.  Being married to an Italian mitigates this process somewhat, as does becoming officially resident before the end of the transition period, after which it becomes nearly impossible.

5) Do you plan to return to the UK or hope to move to another country in the future?

Currently I have no plans to move away from Italy, certainly not to the UK – They would have to give up their regressive ways before I would consider going back there. Maybe we will find another place elsewhere in Europe, or the world. Who knows?

6) What was the most difficult aspect/greatest you challenge you faced in moving?

Moving here was not too difficult, the practical aspects of getting myself and my stuff here was sometimes tricky but it all went quite well really.

The most difficult aspects of suddenly finding myself living in a foreign country were those aspects concerning language. Most Italians, especially where I live, hardly speak English, if at all, so my social life abruptly flatlined and I quickly realised that, if I wasn’t to remain permanently isolated, I urgently needed to address this as a priority. I had been seriously plugging away with Duolingo and other phone apps for a couple of years preceding the move, but this had barely prepared me to communicate with Italians in anything other than a very basic way. Language apps are no substitute for speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Part of me had hoped that I would be able to make sufficient sense of it all to get by but no, barely at all.

Here I am, two plus years later and, even having diligently studied, listened, spoken, read and written each and every day, I am still an enormous distance from having a meaningful conversation with anyone, of any ability and of any age. I will get there though, or die trying!

7) What do you miss most about the UK?

Hills, nature, industrial architecture, friends, fish and chips. Knowing how to communicate easily and well, social and work abilities, detailed geographical knowledge, and thorough knowledge of all the things needed to conduct business and get work done. All the things I once took for granted and never imagined being without.

8) What do you love most about your current country of residence?

My wife, our dog, my new friends and family, my choral group, my growing business, the weather, my garden, my growing collection of plants, the roof over my head, that I really am finally learning and practising a second language and a slowly, but surely, growing sense of belonging.

9) Do you consider yourself to have a “European identity” and what that does that mean to you?

I have changed. For a long time, I considered myself to be English first. Not the flag-waving, Rule Britannia, proud type but English as the hills. Now I have a bigger and broader outlook and yes, that outlook begins with a strong European identity.

When freedom of movement and a borderless Europe became possible, I knew that the greatest progressive achievement in my lifetime had been won, a very precious and eminently useful development.

10) Do you still consider yourself to have a “British identity” and how do you feel about it?

Yes, I am still British. I still have a British passport and my entire life, until two years ago, has largely been spent in Britain. I am happy when Britain does well for itself and unhappy when it does not.

For the past four years, I have become increasingly unhappy with Britain and with my British identity.

Additional Questions (relating to Corona Virus)

11) How has the Covid19 pandemic affected your life?

Lockdown in Italy has been quite strict, but I have very much enjoyed the peace, tranquillity, and clean air it has brought, as has the wildlife, which has been noticeably more abundant and vociferous. I am often of the opinion that Hell is other people, so lockdown has been a relief in that respect as well.

Watching the emerging creative and prosaic side of lockdown personalities has been particularly enjoyable, of which there have been many joyous and beautiful examples.

12) How do you feel about your country’s response to the Covid19 pandemic compared to the UK government & media?

Italy has responded very well to the crisis, an assertion supported by the World Health Organisation and it has set a very good example, by swiftly enforcing a strict lockdown and giving clear guidance to its citizens, based upon the science which was known at the time. Conversely, Britain has, once again, astounded, and perplexed observers with its shockingly garbled, unempirical, contradictory, confusing, and damaging mismanagement. Its “Covid briefings” resembled a dreadful rendition of “Have I Got News For You”, where entertainment took precedence over fact, and were as much practical use to the nation as a chocolate teapot. An absolute shambles, the proof of which is evident in the worst Covid statistics in Europe.

How do I feel? Between the handling of Covid19 and Brexit, The Brexit Party, Leave.EU, the Conservative party and a shockingly manipulative right-wing popular press (you know who you are, we all know who you are) – Astonished, ashamed, embarrassed, massively disappointed and incredibly angry. That is how I feel.

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